Today, I’m going to talk about building your MLM Business like an affiliate marketing business. I was sitting on the couch last night watching a Jet Li movie when the idea for this post came to my mind. I know that this information will be beneficial to the people who actually apply it in their business.
One of the biggest complaints in MLM is that people don’t want to bug their friends and family. They don’t want to pressure their family and friends and they don’t want to strain their personal relationships. I can totally understand that way of thinking, because I feel the same way.
Many folks ruin their personal relationships with their close friends and family once they get involved in MLM. This happens because a lot of people approach people the wrong way, and they pressure and annoy people until the person joins, or stops returning their phone calls. As a result, they end up as part of the No Friends Left club. I don’t want that to happen to YOU! There is a better way of building your business!
I have nothing against old school MLM. I built my network marketing business that way for nearly 10-years and I can assure you that it does work. Many folks have built dynasties making their name list, working their warm market and using the three foot rule.
I also know that many folks have failed miserably using those strategies AND damaged their personal relationships at the same time. In most cases, that happened because they weren’t trained properly.
I can assure you that if you do MLM the right way, you will never strain ANY relationship.
10 Reasons to Build Your MLM Business Like an Affiliate Marketing Business
What you will see below are TEN reasons you should take a different approach to build your MLM Business.
# 1: No meetings. Some people love meetings. I am NOT one of those people. I love building my network marketing business from home in my pajamas, rather than doing hotel meetings or one-on-one meetings five or six nights a week. Driving to and from meetings takes a LOT of time. That time could be better spent using the internet to give presentations for you, and meeting new people online.
# 2: No rejection. This business comes with lots of rejection. Even great recruiters get rejected 8 or 9 times out of every 10 people they talk to. Many people can’t handle experiencing this much rejection, so they quit the business. When you build online, you don’t get any rejection. Your system does the sifting and sorting for you.
# 3: No bugging friends and family. By all means, you can share your products or business opportunity with friends and family, but, you don’t HAVE too. You can build your business in the cold market completely, and not have to approach people you know.
# 4: Work smart. All business owners should work smart. Anyone can be busy, but it’s productive people who make the most money. Leveraging the internet lets you work smart. You can go through 100x more prospects in the same amount of time by working online.
# 5: Automate your business. Building online lets you automate your business. You can automate your recruiting and follow-up. You can even automate your training. This gives you leverage.
# 6: Doesn’t take as much time. When you leverage the internet, you can free up some of your time, so you have more time for your family and hobbies. The whole purpose of this business is to give you time and money freedom, not to take all of your time.
# 7: Generate multiple streams of income. When you build your business online, you can generate multiple streams of income.You can recommend MLM and non-MLM products to your audience and make money with both sources. It’s the best of both worlds.
# 8: Recruit internationally. The international market is a hotbed for MLM. If your company does business in multiple markets, recruiting online will enable you to do recruit internationally.
# 9: Have people come to you and ask you to sponsor them. There’s nothing like getting an email or phone call from someone you don’t know telling you they just joined your team.
# 10: Make the business fun again! If the business isn’t fun, you won’t do it consistently. If recruiting becomes a chore, you won’t do it. When you can have fun and make money at the same time, it’s a win-win deal.
What I Decided to Do
I decided a long time ago that I didn’t want to bug, pressure, chase, sell or annoy anyone about a MLM Business or products. I wanted to do network marketing, because I love it, but I wanted prospects coming to be with their credit card in hand, ready to buy!
I knew that the only way I could do that was if I took the time to learn marketing. I chose affiliate marketing because I wanted to leverage the internet.
I invested in some courses, attended some workshops and learned affiliate marketing. It took me a few years to master, but it was worth it. Most of the things I learned were from Dan Kennedy and Mike Dillard.
What I Do with This Blog
Think about what I do with this blog for a minute.
- I chose the niche of network marketers.
- I provide people in my niche value by creating content several times per week.
- I help educate people in my niche, and help solve their problems.
- I don’t pressure, hype or hard sell anyone.
- People know me, like me and trust me, because I help them.
- I recommend a variety of different products and services to help the people in my niche.
- Some of these folks buy from me. Some hire me for coaching or a service. Others buy an affiliate product I recommend. Some people join my MLM Company.
- I make money whether they join my opportunity or not, because I have multiple streams of income (about 40).
- In either case, I help people solve their problems and I make money. I don’t get rejected face-to-face. I don’t strain any relationships. I don’t pressure people. Best of all, I have fun and do what I love.
- People come to me and buy what they want to buy because they WANT to buy, not because I try to sell them.
Best of all, it’s a real business. I own an asset (my blog and audience). It provides me with multiple streams of income and builds my MLM Business on complete auto-pilot at the same time.
If you’ve tried MLM the old school way, but don’t feel comfortable doing that, consider trying this approach. Build your MLM Business like an affiliate marketing business. You might get much better results.
5 Steps for Building Your MLM Business Like an Affiliate Marketing Business
Here are five simple steps to build your MLM Business like an affiliate marketing business.
1. Pick a niche you want to focus on, ideally a niche you understand. If you try to focus on everyone and anyone, you won’t get very good results with your marketing. Pick a niche like stay at home moms, other network marketers, retirees, veterans, etc. It’s vital that you are very specific and focus on one niche exclusively.
2. Pick Your platform (with a blog, YouTube Channel, podcast, or email list). After you select your niche, you need to pick a platform, so you can build your audience. Perhaps you start a blog. Or, you set up a YouTube channel. Or, you set up a podcast channel. Once you pick your platform, you can move to the next step.
3. Create content. Your next step is to create content for people in your target market. Focus on providing value and sharing information that will help people solve their problems. For example, if your MLM Company sells weight loss products, you could set up a YouTube channel that reviews weight loss products, shares weight loss stories and provides weight loss tips.
4. Build your email list. As people find your content online, you will start to build up followers. You need to have your own email list. Use a capture page and promote your link on every piece of content you create. Your goal is to add new subscribers to your list every single day. Your list will let you build up the like, know and trust factor, especially if you communicate often with everyone your list. My email list is my most valuable asset.
5. Retail and recruit. As you build up your audience and email list, you can recommend your products, services or business opportunity. You will retail products and sign up new distributors. You can also promote non MLM products and services and generate multiple streams of income.
In review, these are the five steps you need to follow to build your MLM Business like an affiliate marketing business. I learned all of this information in the book Magnetic Sponsoring by Mike Dillard. This book changed my life and taught me this complete process.
I now use this exact process in ALL of my online businesses, not just my MLM Business. I even use it on my military website. It works for me and makes me money. It can do the same for you.
Final Thoughts
In review, these are my thoughts on building your MLM Business like an affiliate marketing business. While some people will argue that this process isn’t duplicatable, my response is “that’s okay.” For the right person, this is a great strategy. It has helped me become a top recruiter and top producer in my company.
What do you think about building your MLM Business like an affiliate marketing business? Leave a comment below to share your thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you. Have a great day.
Chuck Holmes
20+ Year Network Marketing Professional
Top Earner & Top Recruiter
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
P.S. Learn how to grow a successful network marketing business. Secret tips, training, and practical ideas. Free training delivered by email.
Very good post Chuck.
Many of us just do not like the old school form of network marketing. This “affiliate marketing” approach makes more sense. I like the part that you have multiple streams of possible income in one niche. Instead of just relying on one possibility, you opened it up to many.
I need to go deeper into this myself. I did have a website, but the cost was too much versus the money coming in from it. It was my own fault, and I wish I would have read more of these before I lost it.
I will start another one soon. With this website, I think I will do better.
Yes, I don’t like old school MLM either.
As you know, I have since bought a new website, and I have been using the affiliate approach. It does seem to be doing well, because I have multiple streams. Not only is the MLM I am with advertised, but I also have several other affiliates. Between that, the books I have published and my freelancing business, times are getting economically better, plus I feel healthier because I am using the tremendous products that the MLM business I am with makes.
As James Brown says: I Feel Good!
Youtube.com
You mentioned several possibilities for building a niche (blog, YouTube, Facebook, etc). Would you recommend someone solely focus on one of these options or could someone benefit from putting energy into multiple resources for building a niche? In my mind it seems like if you have more outlets then you are raising the chances of being seen and heard, and thus increasing your selling potential. On the other hand, if a person does too much they might not be investing enough in these various areas and thus fall short.
I would focus on building content somewhere that you OWN it, like a blog, and then use these other venues to help spread the word.
I think affiliate marketing is an excellent way to approach an MLM business and I definitely prefer it to the old school model that tends to center on hype and selling by not-so-passive means. You shouldn’t have to forcibly build an audience around your business. Your business should be attractive enough to establish an audience on its own. It’s not a matter of pushing your business or your products – you’re selling yourself. Once your audience knows you and trusts you, they will listen to what you have to say and consider buying what you have to offer.
I agree. I make sales, get customers and sponsor people into my MLM, just like I make affiliate sales. I write articles that educate people and people interested in the links I provide check them out, and some of those folks buy. I don’t try to convince or pressure anyone.
Finding your niche market is essential. When you’re constantly sharing quality information and ideas with those around you, chances are you’ll be seen as an “expert” of sorts. By participating in affiliate market business, you’re doing nothing more than providing the same product and information that they would have gotten elsewhere. You’re providing the information and the solution.
Yes, finding a niche market is very important.
I agree: the reason why you can make money with affiliate marketing is largely this blog. Through it, you show people that you are knowledgeable and that you care. You have worked hard to create relationships (even if only on line) based on trust. So I wouldn’t give any of your readers the impression that if they just set up a blog, the affiliate sales money will come rolling in. They will also need to build a reputation of being trustworthy and knowledgeable, and like any MLM business, that takes time and effort.
Good point. Like I mentioned in the post, you have to build an AUDIENCE of people who know you, like you and trust you. That takes YEARS to do. Anyone can create a blog, but you have to be committed to build an audience. You also have to provide a lot of value.
First, can I just say that Jet Li rocks?
I like the idea of building an MLM business like an affiliate business, and for precisely the reason that you specify–I don’t want to feel like I’m “preying on” my friends and family. However, to do so, I think it is essential to pick a niche that you are an expert in (or at least to pick a niche that you have a high interest in and then educate yourself before you provide content. I also think that the content you provide must be of reasonable quality or you won’t attract the audience you are looking for.
For me, however, the real challenge is monetizing the audience. Sure, you can do the Adsense thing, but in my experience, that’s not much of an income stream. How do you get beyond Adsense when it comes to monetization?
The monetizing will depend upon the niche. At a minimum, sell affiliate products. Create your own products. Sell services. There are lots of great options.